New Ministry of Food hub launched by Recycling Lives Social Enterprise in Preston

13 July 2022

A new Ministry of Food hub has been launched to deliver cookery classes to hundreds more people.

Recycling Lives Social Enterprise’s new Training Kitchen will deliver Jamie’s Ministry of Food cooking classes to people across Preston and Lancashire.

These will allow participants to develop practical skills, learning about nutrition, new cuisines and budgeting for the weekly shop, as well as how to store, handle and cook a wide variety of foods.

The social enterprise already has a well-established network of partners across the third and public sector as it delivers programmes to tackle food poverty, reduce reoffending and reduce homelessness.

It will use this network to deliver classes from its newly refurbished Training Kitchen and Community Café in central Preston.

Alasdair Jackson, Chief Executive of Recycling Lives Social Enterprise, said: “Delivering the Ministry of Food classes in our new Training Kitchen adds another exciting dimension to our offering. It will allow us to give people new or improved skills and the ability to better provide for themselves and their families by cooking and enjoying nutritious and affordable meals.

“This comes at a time when supporting people to better manage their finances and improve their health and wellbeing has never been more important. We hope this will go some way to helping people to cope with the increasing cost of living.

“We’re also looking forward to using this programme to welcome other local groups and businesses into our facilities to work together. It’s a great way to complement our existing work too – as we support people who have been in prison or rehab or experienced homelessness, as well as redistribute surplus food to charities and community groups.”

Rosanna Bluett, Food Education Manager at Jamie Oliver added ‘’We are excited to welcome Recycling Lives Social Enterprise to our Jamie’s Ministry of Food network and look forward to seeing the Preston community engaging with the programme. Having the knowledge and skills to be able to cook nutritious meals on a budget have never been more important and we hope the programme will support individuals and families across the region to achieve that goal’

Recycling Lives Social Enterprise already delivers a food-focussed programme, delivering the Lancashire and Cumbria regional centre for FareShare UK – a national charity preventing food waste.

The centre takes surplus, in-date stock from the food retail supply chain to redistribute to charities and community groups supporting disadvantaged and marginalised groups; preventing food waste and tackling food poverty. Some of this will be used in its cookery classes, to teach people how to make best use of unusual or seasonal produce.

The Training Kitchen has been made possible thanks to £90,000 funding from FareShare UK, covering new kitchen equipment, and match-funding from Recycling Lives Social Enterprise for a full-time chef/trainer to deliver the classes.

To learn more, visit: www.recyclinglives.org/our-programmes/training-kitchen